Last week the FTC dropped a bomb on the marketing world. They released new guidelines for the use of testimonials and endorsements in marketing. I immediately contacted my attorney, Kevin Houchin, to get his take on the latest guidelines. With Kevin's permission, I am republishing the entire text of his interpretation. It is essential that all marketers, online and offline, pay attention to this content. And understand that if you have ANY questions, you should... Continue Reading

Everyone and their grandmother is calling themselves a Social Media EXPERT these days. I'm not sure what the term really means any more. While I still use the term from time to time (even on this blog for SEO purposes), I fancy myself more of a Social Media EVANGELIST. I'm out there beating the drum to get businesses to use social media as part of their marketing mix. Continue Reading

By now, you know that I am the creator of the world's most-talked about iPhone application, iFart Mobile. Although most people know me these days as the best selling author of "Twitter Power - How To Dominate Your Market One Tweet At A Time" and a successful internet entrepreneur, my staff and I eagerly jumped into iPhone development as soon as the app store launched. If you have been following me on Twitter, you are... Continue Reading

Apart from Twitter's own terms of service which prohibit obvious things like harassment, transmitting viruses and spamming other members, there really aren't many rules to the site. You can essentially use Twitter however you like. However, for people and businesses who want to use Twitter successfully (eg: build a following and grow their circle of influence), there are a number of best practices that can be observed. I cover many of these in my book... Continue Reading

There's a rumor going around. It's growing. It's dangerous. And I think I may have encouraged it. People are starting to believe that Twitter is a sales tool. They see the site as a valuable resource that allows them to broadcast their sales messages and land new deals. Continue Reading

In my book, Twitter Power, I describe a number of different kinds of tweets that twitterers are posting on the site. I talk about news tweets and customer service tweets, random thoughts and feedback, and a whole lot more besides. I explain how businesses are using them, why they work and how to make them work for you. You don't have to use all -- or any -- of those tweet models if you don't... Continue Reading

With Twitter becoming such a powerful force on the social media scene, there are those who get it and those who don't get it. There's a certain number of the "don't get it" crowd who will invariably take an outright aggressive posture and make a statement like this... "Twitter is a waste of time. Who cares what you had for breakfast?" Many on Twitter will hem and haw about the content of the question, almost... Continue Reading

There are two reasons that people will visit your website. They'll visit to read great content. And they'll visit to feel part of a community. There's one way in which you can add valuable content to your site, get that content for free and build up your community at the same time. By receiving comments. Continue Reading

I was on Twitter the other day, noticing that I had passed 3300 followers (thanks everyone!), and also noticed that Twitter has no slogan. Well, there's "What are you doing right now?" But that's so 2007. So I asked my followers for some ideas for new Twitter slogans. Here is sampling of the responses I received... Continue Reading

We had a great time in Glenwood Springs. From taking a Segway tour of the area and a day at the world's largest hot springs pool to downtime for rest & relaxation and a trip to a rain-covered Snowmass, my family and I enjoyed our brief vacation. I may put up some video once I get the chance. But I've had a lot of people curious about how the return train ride went on Amtrak... Continue Reading

Social Media is all the buzz right now. It started with MySpace, continued with YouTube and has brought about Facebook, Twitter and a host of other sites promising the help people interact in new ways. These sites have become very popular and two were purchased for a tidy sum. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp purchased MySpace for $580 million and Google bought YouTube for for $1.65 BILLION. I'm sure the boys from Facebook and Twitter have... Continue Reading

While attending an Internet marketing conference in Chicago, I spent a lot of time networking with my peers. As I sat at the dinner table last night, I noticed that a bunch of us were twittering on our handhelds. Simon Leung, Donna Fox, Eric Farewell, Anik Singal and several others had their PDAs or phone out and were twittering away... sometimes to each other other, even though they were sitting across the table from each... Continue Reading

I regularly receive joint venture proposals from people. A small percentage of them have some really good ideas and products, but the majority of them are not good at all. Today I received an email from a couple gentlemen in Australia. I hope the email and my response will be instructive for the recipients and for others as they seek to do joint ventures. Continue Reading

I've just spent an incredible three days in Las Vegas at the Affiliate Summit. This gathering of nearly 3000 people was one of the largest concentrations of affiliate marketers in history. While I did enjoy some of the workshops, the greatest benefit was from networking with others in the industry. I finally got to meet famous bloggers such as Amit Mehta, John Chow, Andrew Wee and Zac Johnson, just to name a few. All these... Continue Reading

Today's entry may be one of the most important ones I have ever sent out. Why? Because your response to this newsletter is going to help guide the direction of all future newsletters! This is the day that I am asking for participation from every one of my readers... ... and I am counting on you! Continue Reading

With 2007 almost gone and 2008 on the way, I am doing quite a bit of reflecting on where I've been, where I am going, and how I can best serve you in the upcoming year. So this is going to be an interactive newsletter, because I am counting on you to tell me what you would like to accomplish in 2008, and perhaps give me an indication of how I can best help you... Continue Reading

It was fall of 2005. I was in Charlotte, North Carolina, preparing for my very first public speaking engagement. I would be speaking before an audience of 25 people who had paid to hear me and a handful of other Internet marketers share how we make our millions online. It was at this time that I had begun preparing the manuscript for my first traditionally published book. But I was lacking a title for the... Continue Reading

I love it when people add comments to my posts. Sure, I write a blog to share my information and tips... and to tell the world what I think sometimes too. But it helps to know that someone out there is actually reading what I'm saying. It helps even more to see what they think about what I'm saying! But comments at the end of articles aren't just a nice boost for the writer of... Continue Reading

NOTE! - This issue has been resolved by American Furniture Warehouse customer service as of February 22nd. Please see this blog entry for the rest of the story. We now return to you the initial entry as originally posted... American Furniture Warehouse in Fort Collins, Colorado is officially on my "naughty" list. I write this entry today as an open letter to Jake Jabs, owner of this furniture chain. Since we moved to Colorado this... Continue Reading

I'm always going on about the importance of great content. It really is the most important thing you'll put on your website. Sure, the way you format your AdSense units is important. The affiliate products you choose to promote will affect your earnings. The design and layout of your page will determine whether it looks professional and invites users to stick around and come back for more... or send them screaming back where they came... Continue Reading

The word page fun continues as the blogosphere is discussing 500Words.com. Today, PRWeb phoned me to create a podcast interview which you can now listen to online or via itunes. Check out writings by Adam Viener, Brad Waller and Jim Kukral Continue Reading

Who would have thought that my post about Arbonne would have generated so much discussion? Admittedly, it does get heated from time to time. But I have allowed the post to be a forum for free speech as long as people keep it clean and don't abuse each other. If you try to read it, expect to spend at least an hour... it just keeps going and going... A few months ago, I put up... Continue Reading

A week does not go by that I don't get an email from someone telling me that their AdSense account was closed. Most often, the email from the AdSense team starts with... "It has come to our attention that invalid clicks have been generated on the Google ads on your site(s). We have therefore disabled your Google AdSense account. Please understand that this step was taken in an effort to protect the interest of the... Continue Reading

I remember a story on the cover of Time magazine about ten years ago. It had the following headline which was just a tremendous shocker to me. It said... Continue Reading

"Bush is stupid" is always a great way to start a conversation. Seriously... bold, definitive statements are the doorway from which we can expand our knowledge base and increase in wisdom. Continue Reading

I regularly receive email from people wanting to make money online, but aren't sure how to go about doing it. Building a website can be a daunting task for someone who has never done it. Learning HTML, search engine optimization, affiliate linking, marketing and all the other areas of the business can be complex and overwhelming. Continue Reading

All you hear from the liberal democrats these days is "Bush lied... no weapons of mass destruction... Get out of Iraq... Saddam was not tied to terrorists... etc and so forth." I came across this series of quotes from the beloved liberal leadership that should make anyone who has supported them in the past go "hmmmm" Their own words nullify their objections with this administration, and make clear that they have absolutely no platform to... Continue Reading

Liberal democrats and the mainstream media have been incredibly quick to bash President Bush and the Federal Government for their handling of the rescue efforts in New Orleans. Sid Blumenthal, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , and Molly Ivins shots off condemnation pieces within 24 hours of this tragedy, revealing their true colors once again. Hillary Rodham Clinton is calling for a 9/11-style investigation of Katrina, seeking to point fingers and cause disruption for the President... Continue Reading

Google AdSense has becoming a primary source of income for many Internet publishers. The ubiquitous AdSense text ad has brought life into many sagging business models and created opportunity for mom and pop site owners to actually make some money. In response to many requests from the readers of my AdSense ebook, last week I quiety launched AdSenseChat.com, an online discussion board for site owners who use Google AdSense. Continue Reading

If I had been drinking coffee or milk, it would have come out my nose when I saw this story. Yesterday, the news reported that President Bush is the most physically fit President in history. He exercises six days/week and eats well. In the response to this, The Democratic National Committee has issued a press release saying "Bush Should Stop Playing Games with Physical Fitness". They accuse the President of cutting funding to schools for... Continue Reading

I've been slaving away attempting to make sense of this thing we call the Internet. In order to put things in proper perspective, I have composed this paper which I hope will prove useful. Continue Reading

Want to know how to make money with Google Adsense? I am going to be sharing my secrets in an EXCLUSIVE FREE Teleseminar hosted by Ezine Marketing Expert, Christopher Knight. The live teleseminar is scheduled for Tuesday, March 22nd, 2005 at 7 pm CST. If you have a web site, you'll want to sign up for this FREE live event that will cover: An overview of why Adsense can work for your site Who typically... Continue Reading

Me and my family spent the last four nights in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, one of our favorite places to visit in the fall. The Ozarks rise to almost 2000 feet and are a touch of natural beauty only a few hours away from the plains of Central Oklahoma. Eureka Springs is particularly beautiful because it is a small town (population 2900) nestled in the mountains. Many of the streets are reminiscent of San Francisco, with... Continue Reading

I watched the President last night and was inspired. It is so refreshing to have a man in the White House who is "real". I know, I know. The Dems will scream about how "stupid" I am for believing the "lies" of the Bush administration. Save your breath. Your comments will be deleted. After surviving eight years of the worst Presidency to ever curse the White House, I can spot a liar and a con... Continue Reading

Amazingly, there are still liberals and democrats repeating the "Bush lied about WMDs" mantra. Let's put it to rest once and for all. Before we went to war in Iraq, what did DEMOCRATS say about the connection between Saddam and WMDs? "One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." - President Clinton, Feb... Continue Reading

Finally, the day has arrived. While I won't see The Passion of Christ until Sunday, I have watched the Primetime Live interview with Mel Gibson as well as The Making of the Passion which showed on PAX TV this evening. It's not like the ending can be spoiled. The reviewers are beginning to chime in, and sure enough, the folks at The New York Times just don't get it. But who expected they would? As... Continue Reading

I decided to go check out the new Aspen Athletic Club that is opening just 1.5 miles away from our house. Mary and I have been talking about joining a club for a while, so I thought I'd stop be on my way to work. The actual club is still being built, but they have a temporary facility set up where they can sell memberships. I don't like long sales pitches and I had more... Continue Reading